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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. last — final
  4. last — finally
  5. bass — low music
  6. ground — a position
  7. spring — of water
  8. last — to go on
  9. ground — crushed
  10. spring — the season
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. branch — a division
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. face — to confront
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. ground — the earth
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. face — part of the head
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. spring — a coil
  24. face — to point toward

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com